


Something Lurks on Spooky Island

by Closeted_Calliope



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Action, Blood, Dadvid is real, Gen, Post Season 1, i guess you could say it's a bit angsty, if someone's already dead do I tag it major character death?, meh I'll do it just in case, no ships, oh yeah and there's a monster, there's gonna be quite a bit of blood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:55:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 11,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8086114
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Closeted_Calliope/pseuds/Closeted_Calliope
Summary: Ever wonder what the experiments in the basement of Cameron Campbell's abandoned home on Spooky island were for? Ever wonder how Jasper died? Ever wonder if anyone would ever respect David? Stay tuned, because in the thick woods of Spooky Island, there is a creature. And it thirsts for blood.





	1. 1. A Solemn Start

**Author's Note:**

> I, for one would like to apologize in advance for what you're about to read. It's my first Camp Camp fic, so bear with me if I mess up the characterization of some people.

David woke up in a cold sweat, shivering as he sat up straight in his cot. He placed his hands on his head lay back down, trying to slow his breathing. 

It was the fourth night in a row he had had that nightmare, though prior to that he hadn't had it since he was a kid. 

David had trouble distinguishing which was worse: the fact that he was remembering this after all these years, or the fact that it was a reminder of what had happened to Jasper, his best friend from summer camp. 

_It always started the same way. David and Jasper, both children about ten years old, were in a canoe on foggy Lake Lilac, paddling towards Spooky Island._

_"H-hey David, are you sure this is a good idea?" Jasper whimpered, looking at the mysterious island in front of them._

_David grinned. "Of course it is, Jasp! We got permission from Mr. Campbell to do this, and summer's almost over! Don't you want to know what those noises from the island are before summer ends?"_

_"Well, yeah, but-"_

_"Then don't worry! This is Camp Campbell! There is nothing here that can hurt us. Mr. Campbell wouldn't let any thing happen to us, would he?"_

_Jasper nodded uncertainly. "I-I guess not. And we're almost there. We should just keep going."_

_The boys paddled a little more quickly, and reached the shore of the island._

_David got out of the boat first and then proceeded to help Jasper out. He took a small backpack out of the canoe and whipped out a flashlight, turning it on and handing it to Jasper. "Here," he said cheerfully, "you can hold the flashlight if it makes you feel safer, Jasp."_

_Jasper smiled a little. "Thanks, David," he said, taking the flashlight from him._

_"Now c'mon!" David grabbed Jasper by the arm and excitedly pulled him into the forest. "Let's go find that noise!"_

The next few minutes were always blurry in David's memory, but he remembers him and Jasper getting separated. And then the nightmare goes from bad to downright traumatizing.

 _"Jasp?!? Jasper?!?" David ran through the forest, calling his friends name, a feeling of dread settling over him. He ran until he tripped over something and hit the ground fast. He turned to see that he had tripped on a tree root and his knees were skinned and bloodied._

_Just then he heard a loud, ominous growl and a scream of terror._

_"Jasper!!" Terrified, he ran forwards towards the noise, hoping that whatever happened to his friend was nothing worse than a bear._

_Bears were scary and could hurt you, but they didn't eat people. David had learned that in Animal Camp._

_He ran until he heard a twig crack nearby. He stopped short._

_"Jasp?"_

_A low growl was uttered from behind some bushes and a silhouetted creature pounced out._

_David screamed as something, or rather someone, pushed him out of the way._

_David fell and when he turned to see who saved him, he saw Jasper struggling to keep the jaws of the creature from ripping him apart. Jasper looked exhausted. The mysterious creature looked hungry. They were both covered in blood._

_Jasper turned his head to his friend. He shouted, "David, run!!"_

_Tears welled in David's eyes. He didn't know what to do. "I can't just leave you here to get eaten!"_

_Jasper have him a weak smile, the creature coming closer and closer to eating his face. "I'll be fine," he said, weariness coating his voice, "just hurry up and save yourself."_

_The tears ran down David's face. He knew he wasn't strong enough to save his friend. Voice cracking, he said, "I'm so sorry, Jasp," and took off running for the canoe._

_And even as he heard Jasper scream in agony, he kept running, as much as it hurt him to do so._

David sighed. He was surprised that he had remembered what had had happened so well. He also vaguely remembered sneaking not back into camp just before everyone else got up, putting on his usual happy demeanor so no one would be suspicious. The worst part of all was that they never found Jasper after that. For all David knew, he was rotting at the bottoms of the lake. 

David rubbed his eyes and glanced at the clock near his cot. It was 3:07 AM. 

He let out a small chuckle. "Well, I suppose I should get back to sleep if I want to be rested enough to face the day tomorrow." 

He settled back into his cot and closed his eyes, thinking of all the things that made him happy (camping, the kids, singing) and avoided any thoughts about what the nightmares might mean.


	2. 2. Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Max, Nikki and Neil make some rather disturbing discoveries. (Also I have nothing against furries nor fangirls, I was just trying to make a joke, so don't hate me.)

Max slowly opened the cabin door a crack, then motioned for his friends to come over as he opened it the rest of the way. 

David and Gwen were busy setting up Historical Reenactment Camp, which no one wanted to participate in. So Max, Nikki, and Neil (mostly Max) decided to sneak into the counselors' cabin. 

"Why are we doing this again, Max?" Neil asked, not really wanting to be there. He didn't want to accidentally learn that one of the counselors was into some weird shit like being a furry or something. 

Max rolled his eyes and walked through a sort of living area. "Don't you see? This is our chance to finally find out what makes David tick! Besides, does recreating the Battle of Bunker Hill really sound like something you'd want to spend some of your precious short life doing?"

Neil made a face, replying, "Hell no," with a touch of disgust in his voice. 

Nikki ran over to a nearby door and kicked it open. "Found Gwen's room," she announced. The boys came over and looked inside. 

"Holy shit," Neil said quietly, sounding almost afraid. 

Max _tch_ ed. "Im honestly not surprised." The amount of fandom shit Gwen had in that small room was unbelievable. There were Doctor Who posters adorning the walls. A laptop with tabs opened to fanfiction.net, wattpad.com, and archiveofourown.org sat on a small desk.( _How the fuck does she get wifi?_ Max wondered.) Next to the desk, a twin sized bet adorned in Supernatural sheets was standing. It was a fangirl's dream. And the kids' worst nightmare. "Yeah, okay, I'm gonna forget I saw this," Neil said as he turned in his heel to leave the doorway. "Oh come ON, Neil," Max said irritatedly, gesturing into the room. "She's like, really old. She's probably in college. All college girls are into this shit. They just want some fucking heroic fictional make to come and save them from their pointless lives." He left Nikki in the room, just barely noticing her comment about how she must "claim the territory". The door on the left of Gwen's door was clearly David's. It had a little sign in Camp Campbell colors that read "David" in bold letters. Underneath that was a photo that looked like it was taken ages ago. It was a bunch of young campers standing around a much younger Cameron Campbell in front of Lake Lilac. "Bingo." Max smirked. "Neil, you coming with?" "Sorry, Max. After seeing Gwen's room I'm kind of terrified to see what's in _David's_ room. I'm just gonna raid their fridge. Surely that gotta have something better than that orange shit they feed us on a daily basis." Neil headed for the kitchen. "I call dibs on any alcohol you find." "I wouldn't count on it," Neil called over his shoulder. Max turned back to the door, took a deep breath, and grinned maliciously. He raised his leg and kicked the door open. The room was about as David-y as one would expect. There were a few posters of nature, a simple bed, a window with yellow curtains, a desk with a small lamp sitting on it; the whole place just screamed "I love nature and cabins and all that shit". Max walked over to his desk and started raiding it, looking for anything interesting. _Boring. Stupid. Yawn. David actually fucking reads that? Lame. Awful. For fuck's- Wait, what's that?_ A small, yellow, dust-covered book sat in a drawer at the bottom of the desk. Max picked it up and wiped some of the dust off, sneezing (like a kitten) as he did so. In big, shaky, green letters, the words "David's diary" were handwritten across the middle of the book. Max smirked. Now **this** was what he was looking for. He opened to a random page and started reading the messy handwriting. " _I just love Camp Campbell so much!! It's been three weeks since I got here, and it's just as good as last year, if not even better!!" This must be from when David was a kid here,_ Max thought. _Wow, he's always been a loser. "We spend all day in the great outdoors, where anything is possible!!_ (Max scoffed.) _And the best part of all is that I get to spend it all with my best friend, Jasper!"_ Max stopped. Something about this 'Japser' character wasn't sitting well with him. He flipped ahead. _"Today Mr. Campbell brought a camera and we got to take so many pictures! We have so many memories that we're gonna remember forever and ever!!!_ " Underneath that, there was a selfie of little David and another boy. Jasper. Max gasped at the sight of him. He knew that face. He remembered meeting him the night they went to Spooky Island (he still had nightmare about what he saw). As he mulled it over in his head, he realized that they had never known about Japser prior to that night, they never saw him get on the island, and they never saw him leave. The feeling in his gut grew worse as he flipped a few pages further. _I can't believe that just happened. We were only trying to solve some mysteries on Spooky Island. Whatever it was, it took Jasper. I barely managed to escape. I hope he's okay._ It was the last entry in the book. Max closed it and shuttered. That was not a thing he wanted to learn about. He had a sneaking suspicion about what happened to Jasper. Just then, Neil burst into the room, arms full of potato chips and sodas. "MAX! DAVID AND GWEN ARE COMING BACK! WE GOTTA FUCKING GO!!" "Shit!" Max threw the diary back into the drawer, ran around the desk and bolted out of the room. Neil ripped open the door to Gwen's room. "NIKKI WE GOTTA- Oh my god." The room was a mess. The posters were torn to shreds. The laptop's screen was cracked. There was a puddle of an unknown substance in the corner. And Nikki was in the middle of it, ripping apart a Dalek plushie with her teeth. Max and Neil stared at her in disbelief. "What the hell did you do?" She spit out the Dalek and shrugged. "I told you guys; I'm claiming my territory." Max groaned. "Well that's great and all, but we gotta go because-" A door opened outside the room and familiar, older voiced could be heard. "Shit!" The three of them said simultaneously. They looked around for a means of escape. "The window!" Neil whisper-shouted. Nikki ran towards the window, ripped it open and hopped out, laughing excitedly as she ran into the woods. Neil left next, struggling to not drop any of his stolen good. Max finally climbed into the window-frame, taking one final look at the damage Nikki caused before scrambling after his friends. They regrouped back at their tent. Neil passed out his presents while Nikki explained all the stuff she did the Gwen's room while she claimed it. "What about you, Max?" Nikki asked, turning to her friend. "Did you find anything interesting?" Neil added, "Yeah, what DID you find in David's room?" Max took a deep breath. "You guys would not believe the shit I learned today." But before he could explain it, a loud wail spread throughout the camp. "What the hell was that?" "Probably Gwen. You saw what Nikki did to her room." "What can I say? I'm an agent of chaos."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!!! It took me a while to come up with ideas (and I had to ask tumblr user yes-asil for inspiration. If you're reading this thank you) but I have finally finished. I promise the plot is going to get better soon! Let me know if you have any comments or ideas! I really appreciate it! See you next time!! 
> 
> -CC


	3. 3. An Infallible Plan (That Will Not Succeed)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Max and his pals devise a plan to do some shit and David is morally and legally obligated to keep them from doing that please oh no don't do that god no. 
> 
> (Also suicide mention for like two lines in this chapter so be careful if that triggers you.)

"...And that's what I learned from David's old diary," Max concluded, crossing his arms. 

Nikki's and Neil stared at him with wide eyes. He had been telling them about the things he saw in David's room, mainly the diary and its contents, for about fifteen minutes now. They all sat in a little triangle at the back of their tent, drinking the soda and eating the chips Neil stole. They weren't terrible, pretty outdated but still eatable. 

"So you really think Jasper is dead?" Nikki asked, shoving potato chips into her mouth. 

Max scoffed. "Think? I **know** that's he's dead. I saw his face."

Neil butted in, saying, "Well maybe Jasper had an older brother that David hung out with as a kid."

"David illicitly said that it was Jasper! Like, seven fucking times!"

Neil shrugged. "Maybe it was a different Jasper then."

"Oh come on, Neil," Max groaned, rolling his eyes. "I saw the selfie they took. It was the Jasper from Spooky Island."

Neil was quiet for a moment, then muttered a soft, "Shit..."

"Shit is right, we met a ghost and now what the fresh hell do we do? Invite over for dinner?"

Nikki said, "Wait, didn't you say that ghosts weren't real Max?"

"Yeah, you said that you face eternal nothingness when you die."

"Seriously?" Max looked at them incredulously. "Everyone knows that if you die suddenly, then your soul or whatever stays behind because it's traumatized or some shit."

"Oh yeah." Nikki chugged down her soda. 

"How do you guys think he died?" Neil asked warily, popping another chip into his mouth.

"I don't know, maybe David killed him or something. That asswipe is too happy not to have **some** dark secrets hidden in the dark corners of his sick, twisted mind."

"Maybe Jasper killed himself." Neil mused aloud. "Maybe he was just sick of all the lies and conspiracies at this camp and just wanted it to end."

"Maybe he got eaten by monster!"

Neil and Max stared at Nikki, eyebrows raised.

She shrugged. "What? He could've been! Like, maybe he was walking around when suddenly a monster jumped out in him! And then it started ripping all his guts out, like this!" 

She took an unopened bag I've potato chips and tore it open by the middle as though it were her own stomach with a loud "BLEEEUUUHHH". She grabbed a soda, shook it up and opened the tab. Soda fizzed out of the can onto her arm, which she waved around as she yelled, "OH GOD! IM TOTALLY BLEEDING!! THIS IS LEGITIMATE BLOOD! IM DYING!" She made a few garbled choking noises as she spasmed on the floor before going still, soda-blood pooling around her. Finally, she uttered another "bleeeuuuuuhh" as she took some chip-guts from the mutilated bag and threw them into the air for good measure.

The boys stared at her "corpse" for a second. 

Then Neil said, "You know, Nikki has a point. Don't you remember all those weird experiments in the basement of the mansion? Who knows how long they've been there. Maybe they're even older than David and Jasper. Maybe one of them escaped. But it's not like we can ask Jasper what happened."

Max gave him a look. "He's literally just across the lake. We're gonna ask him."

"WHOOO! GHOST HUNT!" Nikki screeched, potato chips falling off her as she sat up with a start. "When do we start?"

"I'd say we do it tonight," Max answered, peering out the door flaps of the tent. He could see David talking to Nerris, who was throwing glitter "spells" at him. Classic Nerris. 

"Because there's no way in hell he'd let us go back there if he found out what we're doing."

\----------------(time skip)------------------

"Ahh, today certainly was a great day, wouldn't you say Gwen?" David chirped as he bit into an apple he found in the woods. He had had a wonderful time teaching the kids during Historical Reenactment camp, Tic-Tac-Toe camp, and Pocket Monster Training camp. The sun was finally setting, and he and Gwen were doing a final check on the perimeter of the camp.

Gwen glared at him. "Some animal broke into the cabin and trashed my room, and you still think it was a GREAT DAY?"

David's smile faltered for a brief moment before regaining its spark again. "I'm sure it was just a poor squirrel that got lost in-"

"THERE WERE CLAW MARKS ON MY POSTERS, DAVID," Gwen interrupted angrily, slamming her fist on a nearby tree. Leaves and small animals fell from its branches. David was afraid. "FUCKING. CLAW. MARKS."

"Well, whatever it was, I'm sure it didn't mean to cause you any harm." David pushed a branch out of the path's way, letting it go right in Gwen's face. She groaned and rubbed her face in pain. David hurried on ahead while she scowled at his cheerful silhouette running into the distance. 

"'Didn't mean to cause me harm' my ass."

She started walking in the direction David ran off in. 

"OH MY GOSH!" David cried from further along the path. Gwen followed the sound of his girly screaming and found him standing outside the campers' tents. 

She whacked him in the head. "Be quiet!" She hissed. "You're gonna wake the little fuckers up! What happened? Did someone die?"

David whispered worriedly, "Max, Nikki, and Neil are missing! I checked everyone's tents but they weren't there!! What could've happened to them?"

"Oh no," Gwen muttered, clutching her head as another headache formed. She got those a lot these days. "I am not walking around this goddam camp AGAIN." 

David gave her a small smile. "You go back to the cabin, Gwen. I'll go look for the kids."

Gwen tiredly said, "Thanks, David," sincere greatfullness in her voice as she turned toward their cabin and began trudging her way back.

David walked out of the area and was heading towards the mess hall when he heard a noise coming from lake. It sounded like yelling. Yelling with lots of swears. 

He cut through the woods as quietly as he could and hid behind a tree near the lake's edge. He saw a little canoe with three small figures rowing towards Spooky Island. One of the figures was standing up (a very unsafe practice in a moving canoe) and waving their arms around angrily as they yelled. The figure had messy hair. 

David was not a gambler, but he was willing to bet money that that was Max, and that Nikki and Neil were in that boat with him. 

His biggest concern was that they were rowing towards Spooky Island. just thinking about the island gave him anxiety-ridden flashbacks about Jasper.

David calmly started walking towards a small shed that held the extra canoes. He pulled it out and started dragging it towards the water.

He didn't know why they were going there or what they planned to do when they got there, but he did know one thing. 

He'd die sooner than he'd let those kids end up like Jasper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It took me forever to write because I am terrible with coming up with ideas. More interesting things are gonna come, I promise. You just gotta sit through a bunch of boring shit first. The next chapter will be much more entertaining, I swear. Confrontations! Danger! Hitting things with sticks! All this and more in the next chapter. See you next time!
> 
> -CC


	4. 4. Reunions and Unfortunate Situations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes meet up with an old friend, said old friend meets up with an even older friend, and an even olderer enemy rears its head once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things are about to start getting interesting........ ~_u (that was a wink)

The small canoe trembled a bit as it hit the shore of Spoony Island. Nikki hopped out first, then Neil, then Max, who stared into the deep, dark woods in front of him. 

It was time to get some fucking answers.

The trio of children dragged the canoe onto the beach so it wouldn't float away, then stared dramatically into the woods. 

"You guys really want to do this?" Max asked his friends, fearing the things that might live in those woods.

Neil was trembling slightly with fear, but he still answered, "Yeah," in a quiet yet firm voice. Nikki grinned and agreed, saying "What's the worst that could happen?" before beginning to skip into the woods.

 _We could all die like Jasper did,_ Max thought as he and Neil ran after Nikki. He didn't want to psyche himself nor his friends out of getting answers. 

They walked for a few minutes before reaching the mansion they visited last time. The one where the Quartermaster and a bunch of other old people had their weird kinky sex orgy. Max still had nightmares about that night. He shuddered just thinking about it. 

"So..." Neil began, looking around, "where should we look first?"

"Hi guys! What brings you back here?" 

The kids spun around to find none other than Jasper himself, smiling like there was nothing wrong with anything. 

"Right behind us, apparently," Max muttered under his breath.

"Hi Jasper!" Nikki greeted happily. "How ya been doing lately-"

"Jasper, we know you're dead so you better start explaining shit," Max interrupted.

Jasper looked taken aback. "Wait, what?"

"Yeah," Neil agreed, crossing his arms with a great amount of sass. "Start talking."

Jasper sighed. "I do suppose you would've found out one way or another. I mean, you did find out the creepy noises in the basement-"

"I would appreciate it if we all agreed to never talk about that shit ever again," Max interjected. 

Neil and Nikki nodded solemnly. 

"Alright," Jasper complied. "It all started about ten or so years ago. I had paddled out here in a canoe with my best friend David, and-" "Wait!! You know David?!?" Nikki cut in. She turned to her friends. "Do you think it's our David?!" Max facepalmed. "Yes, it's our David, I read his old diary. Now can we please let Jasper tell his story?"

Jasper hesitated before he continued. 

"So David and I rowed out to Spooky Island, but we got separated after a while. I tried looking for him for a while, but eventually I found-WAIT."

Jasper looked at his surroundings hurriedly, a look of fear plastered upon his face. 

"Jasper-"

"We need to get out of here. NOW." 

Neil started to ask, "What are you talk-"

"Quickly, into the mansion!!" Jasper booked it towards the abandoned building before the others could interrogate him further. They shared a look of confusion and concern before following him inside.

\-----------------------------------------------

David's canoe jerked as it hit the shore of the island. As he sat, he stared into the dark depths of the trees, seemingly going on forever. 

He _reeeeeeeaaaaally_ didn't want to be here. 

But he knew he had to. He needed to find his kids. He needed to keep them safe. He needed to protect them from whatever had killed Jasper all those years ago. 

Taking a deep and shuddery breath, David got to his feet and stepped onto the sandy beach. 

\-----------------------------------------------

As Max closed the mansion door, he asked, in a very pissed tone, "Okay, Jasper, why the f-MMMPPHHH?!?!?"

Jasper had slapped his hand over Max's mouth. "Shut up!! It's gonna hear you!"

"What's gonna hear us?" Neil questioned, not sure he wanted the answer. 

A low growl shut everyone up instantly. There was a large window across the room, so the four children slowly brought themselves the six feet it took to reach it and peered outside. 

And then they proceeded to regret that decision more than any regrets they had ever. 

Outside, mere yards away, stood a creature, bigger than a school bus , and twice, maybe even thrice, as wide as the doorway. It was covered in thick, black fur, like a bear, though it clearly wasn't one due to the fact that it had over double the amount of limbs. Eleven muscled legs protruded from its sides and it's back (four legs per side and three on the back). Each leg had a foot with six taloned toes on it. There was a tail that, in addition to fur, was coated in rows of long spikes that could easily pierce someone's ribcage. 

But the worst part of all was its head. 

The head was large, and it needed to be to hold all of its facial features; five eyes, three noses, and a mouth that took up half its face. Inside that mouth were what looked to be hundred of teeth, sharp enough to slice a hair in half. 

It was truly a horror to behold. 

It was sniffing the ground with its noses, sometimes stopping to look around at its surroundings before returning to its business.

When it turned its head towards the mansion, the kids ducked out sight, trembling a little.

They could hear it stepping closer and closer to the window, then it stopped. Something else must've caught it's attention, as its footsteps grew faster, but quieter, like it was moving away. When the steps could no longer be heard, the kids made like a YA female protagonist and let out a breath they didn't know they were holding. 

"What," Neil started, "THE ACTUAL SHIT WAS THAT?!?!"

"That was the monster that killed me."

"That thing really killed you?" Nikki pried, even though the answer was obvious.

Jasper nodded solemnly. "After David and I got separated, I ran into it. I managed to shake it off, but then it went after David. Once I found it preparing to pounce on him, I pushed him out of the way and took the blow myself. I tried to free myself, but it was just too strong."

Jasper began breathing heavily and rubbing his arms with intense anxiety. The experience had been traumatic, to say the least. 

But he still continued, "I just barely had enough strength to keep its mouth from biting me in half. I told David to run, because it wouldn't be worth both of us dying. He ran away. He was crying hard. A couple seconds later," -Jasper began to cry a little- "my hands slipped from its mouth and-"

"You don't need to keep going, Jasper," Nikki intervened, putting a hand on his surprisingly solid shoulder. "You don't have to if you don't want to." 

It was so uncharacteristic of her to be so serious, the other two momentarily forgot that she was the same person who ate an entire ball of mud for a chance to punch Nurf in the face. 

It had been worth the hours spent picking ants out of her teeth, they had been told. 

"The last thing I remember," Jasper concluded, "is being surrounded in darkness and severe pain in my neck as the monster forcefully tore my head off my shoulders."

The kids were silent for several minutes, protecting the information they had just heard. 

"Shit," Max stated simply. 

Neil added, "Yeah, that's kinda..."

"Really messed up," Nikki finished. 

Just then, there was a knocking at the door. The kids jumped a mile high at the sudden sound. 

"Do you think it's the monster?"

"Nikki, why would the monster knock?" Neil challenged.

"Maybe he's trying to trick us into letting our guard down!"

Max looked over to an umbrella stand, where a fancy-ass cane that probably had a blade inside it sat. 

As he walked over to it, he could hear Neil argue, "We are on a scary island with ghosts and monsters, I don't think it'd expect us to let our guard down. No offense, Jasper."

"It's cool, I see what you're trying to say."

Nikki turned to Max. "What do you think- Max, what are you doing?"

Max didn't reply. He simply took the cane, stepped towards the door, and threw it open without a thought. 

"~Helloooooooo-AHHHHHHHHH!"

David screeched as he was hit in the shin with the cane. 

"Oh no, I didn't know it was you, I thought it was the monster, shit, sorry, David," Max replied with as much insincerity as he could possibly muster. He had known that it was David the moment he saw his dumb grin. He just wanted to hit him. 

Because Max was a little shit. 

"David!!!!" Nikki's perkiness sprung back to life as she ran towards her favorite counselor and hugged him by the leg Max didn't hit.

David gasped at the sight of the children. "Nikki! Max! Neil! You're all okay!" 

He knelt down so Nikki could hug him better. "I'm so glad you guys are safe. We should probably go back soon." He stood up, taking Nikki up with him. 

"I mean," he continued, "The last time I was here things didn't-" 

He caught sight of Jasper, looking at him nervously. David's jaw dropped in pure shock. 

".....end....so....well."

The two of them stared at each other, saying nothing. 

Nikki let go of David and quietly ran to the other side of the room, where Max and Neil stood because clearly David and Jasper had some catching up to do. 

"Is it- Is it really you, Jasp?" David inquired quietly. 

Jasper let out a fearful giggle, tears welling up in his eyes. "Aw, c'mon, David, you know I'd never lie to you like that."

Tears of mixed feelings began to run down David's cheeks and he strode across the room, knelt to his old best friend's hight, and wrapped his arms tightly around his small frame. 

Jasper returned the hug and the two of them began sobbing grossly. 

It had been too long. 

"Hey, Max," Neil whispered as they reunited, "you finally got to see David cry, are you happy now?"

Max scoffed. "This doesn't count. Those are tears of joy, and sadness, and nostalgia. When I see David cry, I want it to be from the utter realization that his pathetic life has no real meaning and that he's gonna die and no ones gonna give a shit."

"Dude, that's really dark."

Max shrugged. He didn't really mean it, not after what David had told him during that Sparrow Tribe bullshit, but he still had a reputation to maintain. 

Suddenly, there was a loud creaking noise coming from elsewhere in the house. 

"You guys heard that too, right?" Neil rhetorically asked. 

"No, I actually didn't, Neil," Max answered sarcastically. 

"No Max, that was a rhetorical question, you're not supposed to ans-"

There was a loud **CRASH** as the ceiling caved in a short distance from our heroes. David broke from his hug and rushed to make sure that his kids were okay. As the dust settled, a tense silence hung in the room. 

The monster stood there, on all eight of its side legs, staring at the group hungrily. David stifled a scream. That would not be helpful in this situation. 

The beast let out a tremendous roar, striking fear into the hearts of Max, Neil, Nikki and David. 

Jasper, on the other hand just stood there, his face painted with tears and shock, as the de ja vu swept over him. 

"Oh shit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM SO DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER I SPENT WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON IT I ONLY FINISHED IT BECAUSE IM PROCRASTINATING OTHER FANFICS SO YOURE WELCOME ALSO I LEFT IT ON A CLIFFHANGER BECAUSE IM EVIL SO YEAH SEE GOU GUYS NEXT TIME OR WHATEVER
> 
> -CC


	5. 5. Lots of Running Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our heroes run away from their problem to go bulid a temporary solution while simultaneously trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *is reading newspaper with headline, LOCAL FANFIC AUTHOR PISSES OFF FANS*
> 
> *looks up* oh, hi, thanks for checking in I'm *flashing lights and I turn into a neon trash can* STILL A PIECE OF GARBAGE
> 
> (Sorry for never updating this ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ )

Jasper stared at the beast for a moment before suddenly fading away.

He reappeared on the opposite side of the room, away from the campers. 

"Hey, UGLY!!" The monster turned to face the ghost child. "Yeah, I'm talking to you, fatass!! You want some of this?? COME AND GET IT."

"Jasper, what are you doing?!?" David cried. He couldn't lose his friend again. 

The monster didn't notice him. He let out another hearty roar and began to stalk towards Jasper. 

Jasper's face was filled with fear, but he stood his ground. He yelled to David, "You can't kill someone that's already dead, David!" before spinning around and running down a hallway. The beast raced after him, growling hungrily. 

Max, Nikki, Neil, and David stood together, faces slack with shock.

That just fucking happened. 

Max was the first one to snap out of his haze. Gripping the cane he used to hit David in the shin, he announced, "OKAY FUCK THIS I AM NOT DYING TONIGHT WE ARE LEAVING RIGHT NOW," as he walked towards the door, threw it open, and stepped outside.

Neil found the ability to move next and ran after Max. "Wait, Max!" He interjected. "Shouldn't we wait for Jasper to come back?"

Max rolled his eyes. He snarked, "He's a ghost, Neil; He'll be fine. We, on the other hand, are not ghosts. If that-that THING comes after us, we're FUCKED. Like, completely and utterly FUCKED."

Nikki finally snapped out of it and noticed her friends walking out of the mansion without her or David. David was still in a severe state of shock, and honestly, who could blame him, what with the tomfuckery he had just witnessed. Nikki took him by the hand and gently led him out of the house. 

Once she and David met up with the others she asked, "So what's the plan? Are we gonna leave? Are we gonna help Jasper? Are we gonna try to kill the beast? What are we doing?"

Max sighed. "I don't know," he admitted, "but I do know one thing; we are distancing ourselves from this wretched place, at least for now. We can come up with a better plan when we're NOT trying to keep that thing from tearing is open and eating our guts."

Nikki shrugged and commented, "Sounds good to me."

The small group began hiking through the woods, attempting to retrace their steps before the beast came back. 

\-----------------------------------------------  
Meanwhile, Jasper had his intangible hands full with distracting the monster. He had managed to lead the monster out of and away from the mansion. He'd disappear and then reappear a little distance away, and the creature would try to pounce on him, like a huge, morbid cat trying to catch a laser dot.

Suddenly the creature froze, it's noses sniffing the air loudly. It turned back the way it came and began running towards the way it's noses led it. 

Jasper let out a small whimper. This was bad. 

_I'd better warn the others, _he thought as he dissipated into thin air, leaving nothing but a slight chill behind him.__

\-----------------------------------------------

"Okay," Neil began, "what should we do about our current situation?" They had settled down in a small moonlit patch of grass near the canoes they took. Still in shock, David sat a little ways away, leaning against a tree with a horrified look still on his face. Max had begrudgingly given up his signature blue hoodie to cover David with because they didn't have a blanket and Neil was pretty sure you had to cover someone with a blanket if they were in shock.

Cold from his lack of a hoodie, Max rubbed his arms and muttered, "Why don't we just leave this hell hole? We can go back to our other hell hole and get help and weapons and maybe the army. Wait, Campbell wouldn't let anything associated with the government anywhere near the camp; scratch that thing about the army."

Neil shook his head. "We shouldn't just leave Jasper all alone with the monster that killed him." 

"But we also can't leave the monster here alive. It could swim to our camp and just kill everyone and everything in sight." Max countered. "And it wouldn't stop there. It would keep moving on all across the state, then the country, then the world, until everyone is dead and its thirst for blood has been quenched."

"That seems a little extreme, Max."

"It's totally possible and you know it."

"Yeah, I know."

"We should set up a trap!!" Nikki chirped up loudly. The boys shushed her, but she continued, "I mean, how hard can it be! I've seen loads of Scooby-Doo, and they do that stuff all the time!"

Max raised an eyebrow and said, "You think we should set up a drug deal to lure this monster out?"

"That's not what she meant by 'trap' and you know it." "We could dig a really big hole, cover it with leaves, and BOOM! Monster is caught," Nikki elaborated, crossing her arms smugly at the end of her explanation.

Max and Neil shared a look and shrugged. "Simple enough, and it's not like we could think of anything better," Neil commented. 

Max gave a short nod and announced, "Alright, gang, let's start digging."

\-----------------------------------------------

"Well, that took a lot less longer than I thought," Neil said, wiping a bead of sweat from his brow as he stared at the hole they had dug. It was about the size and depth of the mess hall back at camp, which should've taken much longer to dig. 

David grinned and leaned on his makeshift shovel, crafted from sticks, vines, and a flat stone. "This is why you don't miss Mining Camp day, kids," he said matter-of-factly. He had managed to pull himself out of his shock when the kids had asked him to help with the hole. There was nothing he loved more than his campers after all (except maybe Cameron Campbell). With his digging tips, they were able to dig the whole in only half an hour. 

Max rolled his eyes and muttered, "This place has the most unpractical camps..." He was still secretly greatful that David had snapped out of it. He had wanted his hoodie back; it was cold out on the lake at night. 

Just then, in the distance, a familiar and terrible roar was heard. 

"That has to be Jasper and the beast!" Max started attempting to climb a tree. "C'mon! We shouldn't be near here when that thing gets caught!"

David took Neil in one arm, put Nikki on his back, and grabbed Max with his other arm before skillfully scaling the tree as high as he could.

As David settled the children onto the tree branches, Jasper appeared next to them. "Okay so the monster is on its way over here, so-"

David let out an effeminate screech, immediately being shushed by they other members of the party.

Before Jasper could explain further, there was a rustling in the bushes below and the beast jumped out and snarled. It looked around a bit before raising its head and staring in the general direction of the campers. 

For a moment, no one moved. 

"Oh shit," Max muttered. "We never covered up the hole."

The others looked at him, realization slowly turning across their faces. 

He continued, his voice growing hysterical, "It fucking knows we were trying to catch it. It's gonna KILL US. WE'RE SO FUUUUUUUCKED!!!"

As Max began screaming in panic, the monster let out a hearty roar and jumped up towards their unsuccessful hiding spot. Everyone screamed as they formed a group hug together. 

They barely noticed that the beast failed to jump high or far enough and ended up jumping in their hole. 

Nikki was the first to notice and tore out of their hug, screaming, "Hey, guys!!! We caught it!!!" As the others turned to look, she scrambled down the tree and stood at the edge of the hole to look at the monster. 

"Nikki, be careful!!" David carefully brought Neil and Max down the tree and gently placed them down before running to Nikki and pulling her away from the edge as one of the beast's furry claws swiped at her.

Neil peered over the edge of the hole, a safe distance away to prevent his untimely doom. The beast was circling around, occasionally trying to jump out of the hole, only succeeding in swiping at the air above the ledge and dragging its claws down the sides. "If it keeps this up," he started, turning to his group, "it's gonna find a way to climb out of the hole."

"We should go back to camp and warn everyone," Max said, shoving his hands in his pockets. The way he said it made it sound more like a certainty than a suggestion.

David clasped his hands together and chirped, "Oh, Max! You're realizing the importance of the safety of your other friends, aren-"

"No way! I just don't see why the whole camp has to be massacred like Jasper! Get off my dick, David!" Max snapped, crossing his arms. He couldn't let David know he had feelings other than Hate and Spite.

"Wait, can you even get off the island?" Neil asked Jasper. 

Jasper put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "I dunno. Never tried. Why would I need to?"

"I feel like the rest of the camp would believe the word of an actual fucking ghost over a couple of assholes like us."

"Fair point."

They all started walking for the shore, trying not to look back at the deafening roars behind them. 

\-----------------------------------------------

"I hereby nominate myself for not going in David's canoe," Max announced as soon as the canoes came into sight.

The four that came in them got into them. Neil and Nikki beat Max to their canoe and forced Max to seat with David.

"You traitors are dead to me," he snarled as he begrudgingly got into the canoe. 

David and Nikki went to push their canoes into the lake when David noticed Jasper wasn't getting in. He just stood on the grass by the beach, staring at them.

"Jasp, aren't you coming?"

"Yeah, about that....."

He tried walking past the grass onto the beach, but an invisible force prevented him from leaving. David's face fell, and the kids glanced at each other. 

Jasper couldn't leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is up, my dudes? I hope you all noticed where I looked up "trap" in urban dictionary in order to make a shitty joke. I know you're all probs mad that I never updated this and I don't have and excuse BUT now that Camp Camp s2 is out and summer is here I hope I'll be updating on a more regular schedule. I was gonna write more but this was getting kind of long and I want something to start with on the next chapter. I'll hopefully have another update soon. See you guys later!!!
> 
> -CC


	6. 6. If It Bleeds, We Can Kill It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which our campers need to find a way to bring Jasper off the island, though that might not be as hard as convincing people there's a monster trying to kill them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I'm a little nervous about this one (I feel like it gets kinda OOC at the end, so sorry in advance) but I'm kinda sick of looking at this chapter so I'm posting it right now. Hope you enjoy!!

"Well we can't just LEAVE him here!" Neil broke the silence that had plagued them for several minutes. "He's the best chance we have at convincing the others to help!"

Jasper dejectedly shrugged and looked at the ground, sighing, "I dunno, Neil. I don't think there's anything I can do."

The was a brief silence before Nikki piped up, "Wait! Can't you possess things?"

The boys all looked at her. 

"You know, like take over a light switch or a person or something! I've heard enough horror stories to know that that's a thing!"

Jasper thought on it for a moment before replying, "You know, I actually can do that."

"Then why didn't you think about this earlier?" Max asked.

"I was kinda trying to repress that memory. I've been dead for like 20 years; I've possessed some embarrassing shit."

"Like what?"

Jasper sheepishly looked away. "A few years after I died, I got really bored. Campbell's mansion only has so many nooks and crannies to search through. So I kinda though that it would be fun to possess one of Campbell's bear statues and hobble around pretending to be a bear."

The was an unsettling pause before everyone started talking at once.

"Why the fuck would you want to do that?"

"That sounds AMAZING!! I've always wanted to be a bear!!"

"Well, I don't see anything wrong with a little pretending every now and then!"

"Seriously, Jasper, what drugs were you on? Whatever they were, I want some."

"I don't know!" Jasper exasperately groaned, facepalming with both hands. "I was so fucking bored! Do you guys have any idea how much being alone for for 20 years fucks you up? And even when there were people, they were just gross sexual old people!"

"ANYWAY," Max interrupted, wanting to change the subject so very desperately, "so you can possess stuff?" 

"Yeah." 

"And why is this relevant to our situation, Nikki?"

"Because," Neil realized where Nikki was going with this. "Maybe if Jasper possesses something physical, whatever semi-corporeal barrier keeping him on the island won't be able to hold him back!!"

"Great. Someone give him something to possess. Preferably their body."

"Wait!" David exclaimed with an impossibly wide grin. He took off his bandana and held it out to Jasper.

Jasper gasped and delicately reached his hands out to touch the yellow fabric, like he was unsure of its realness. "Is that...?"

David nodded. "My old camp shirt."

"You kept it, all these years?"

"Of course I did! It holds some of our greatest memories; breaking into the snack closet, climbing up the flagpole to get Lucas's underwear back, canoeing after lights-out, all the great adventures we had!!!"

Jasper looked teary-eyed at David before launching himself forward into a bone-crushing hug.

David hesitated for only a moment before returning the embrace. 

David forgot about the monster chasing them. He forgot about his campers. He forgot when he was and how he got there. He forgot that Jasper was a little dead boy. He forgot that he probably shouldnt be about to touch him because he was a ghost and ghosts were intangible or something. He forgot that he was voiced by Griffin McElroy, the podcast legend. Because right then and there, there was just two best friends realizing exactly how much they missed each other. 

And for a moment, everything was perfect. 

"Yeah, okay, I don't mean to interrupt your little 'reunion friendship hug' or whatever, but there's kind of a FUCKING BLOODTHIRSTY MONSTER CHASING US, so do you think you dweebs could continue this later, when we're NOT in mortal danger?!?!"

Max always had had a way with words. 

David, albeit begrudgingly, let go of Jasper and held the old shirt out to him once again, grinning his signature grin. 

Jasper returned his smile and took the shirt from him. There was a quick flash of light and Jasper was gone, the shirt falling to the ground. 

No one was sure if it had worked at first, but when David went to pick up the shirt, a small transparent hand stuck out of the Camp Campbell logo and gave a little thumbs up.

David's grin, which had faltered at Jasper's disappearance, grew back twice as large as he grabbed the shirt, retied it around his neck, and walked back to the canoe without any trouble. 

"It's about time," Max grumbled, though no one payed him any mind. 

It was time to head back and get some shit done. 

\-----------------------------------------------

The moment the gang stepped out of their canoes, a loud "DAVID!!!" could be heard from the woods.

"Aw man, David," Max said smugly, smirking at his counselor, "Gwen's gonna be pissed at you for leaving her."

David _pshhhh_ ed. "She's not gonna be all upsetti-spagetti with me. We were only gone for a few hours. What's the worst---?"

"DON'T EVEN FINISH THAT QUESTION, DAVID."

Gwen burst out of the woods, looking like she'd been mauled by a honey badger, stomped over to her co-counselor, and promptly kneed him in the gut, causing David to shriek in pain. 

"Where the FUCK were you? Those rugrats have been wreaking havoc all over this hellhole for the past TWO AND A HALF HOURS."

"I was getting Max, Neil, and Nikki off Spooky Island," David groaned in pain. 

Gwen turned her glare towards the problem children themselves.

Nikki shrugged. "It's us; what ere you expecting?"

Gwen faceplamed and grumbled, "What were you guys even doing there?" 

"That's not important right now," Max said, taking a step towards Gwen. "What's important is the fact that we need to warn everyone that a monster on Spooky Island is on its way to kill us as we speak!"

Gwen stared at him disbelievingly for a few seconds, then shrugged and muttered, "Okay, fine, sure, whatever."

The kids and David, who was recovering from his injury, gaped at her in awe. 

"Wait, what?"

Shrugging again, Gwen said, "What? It's not like this is something he would make up! Nikki? Definitely. Neil? It's possible. Hell, even David I can see doing that. But Max? Fuck no. He's too focused on the real shit to imagine some terrible danger up."

Neil nodded in agreement. "Fair point."

One short walk to the mess hall, the Spooky Island crew witnessed the havoc that had been wreaked while they were gone. 

There was long lines of toilet paper EVERYWHERE; on the trees, on the mess hall, up the flag pole, around the Quartermaster (who was sitting in a lawn chair, indifferent to his surroundings).

Nurf was chasing Harrison, brandishing his knife around. Whenever he got closen enough to cause bodily harm, however, Harrison managed to shoot a few doves or cards out his sleeves, distracting the bully and letting him escape.

Ered was sitting on a stump, holding Nerris's head back so she couldn't hit her. Nerris swiped at Ered and threw dice and cast spells at her, but her cool opponent was too absorbed in her cool magazine to react. 

Preston was wrecking anything he could get his hands on and was super extra about it; he pushed over a small flag with a flourishing, "HAH!" He grabbed a handful of dirt and threw it at the mess hall, declaring, "Take THAT, you cruel castle of suffering!!!" He attempted to kick a small rock over, but he ended up stubbing his toe, causing him to start dramatically "dying".

And Dolph and Space Kid were in the middle of a slap fight, looking away to hide their fragile eyes and no winner in sight. If left alone, they would probably continue on for days. But that couldn't happen just yet. 

"Nikki," Max ordered, "Do the thing."

Giggling evilly, Nikki scampered over to the flag pole, scaled it, and at the top, let out the most disturbing sound anyone had ever heard. Unlike any animal on earth, the closest way to describe it would be a chicken having sex with a party blow-noisemaker thing while being set on fire.

That, of course, isn't the most accurate description, but it's the best our puny human minds can handle. 

Needless to say, all camper activity ceased immidiately.

She slid back down the pole and ran back over to Max, grinning. 

"Yeah, okay, thanks, Nikki," Max managed to get out, trying not to think of how she possible could've made that sound, and began his rallying speech. 

"Alright, LISTEN UP, motherFUCKERS! There's a monster over on Spooky Island, that has literally MURDERED PEOPLE, and it's probably on its way over here as we speak, so unless you wanna DIE, we need to track this fucker down and STAB IT IN THE HEAD! The LAST thing this hellhole of a camp needs is another lawsuit on its back, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I am NOT gonna die tonight! Soon, probably, BUT NOT TONIGHT!! We gotta kick this beast's ass; let it know that it fucked with the WRONG CAMP!! NOW WHO'S WITH ME?!?!??"

It was the most inspiring thing Max had ever said. David was proud, trying not to cry. Unfortunately, Max's borderline eloquent speech fell upon ignorant ears.

Nurf laughed cruelly, pointing his knife at Max. "How stupid do you think we are?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

Nurf continued as if he hadn't heard him, "The most dangerous thing on this camp is me! Did you honestly think you could make that shit up?"

Harrison added, "I mean, c'mon, Max, you of all people should know that monsters aren't real. Except for like, murderers and stuff." 

The other campers nodded in agreement. 

"But there IS a monster!" Neil protested. "It's already killed at least one person! Is your pride more important than your goddamn life???"

Nerris piped up, "Well, if this 'monster' (she used finger quotes) even exists, how do you even know it killed someone? Did you see it? Because I'm not seeing anyone missing from this camp."

The others nodded in agreement. 

Just as it seemed like there was no way to explain the situation and get the others to believe, Jasper's head popped out of David's bandana. 

"No one's missing because it happened like fifteen ago and also it happened to me, a person you never met."

Everyone except for the Quartermaster screamed in surprise. The Quartermaster merely shrugged, muttered "Wondered where that one went," and drank from his flask."

"NOW do you morons believe us?!?!"

The others fell silent, quivering in fear. Shit just got _real_. Nurf actually looked like he was gonna cry, and so did Dolph. 

Gwen sighed, and walked into the middle of all the campers (and also David and Quartermaster). 

"Okay look guys," she started, "I have literally no clue what the hell is going on right now, but if these guys, and the little ghost boy, I guess, are right, then we have a major fucking issue on our hands. We can't just sit around here and wait to die a horrible death-"

"Actually we can-"

"SURE, PRESTON, BUT DO YOU REALLY WANT TO?!?!?"

Preston winced and muttered a small "No".

Gwen glared. "That's what I thought. Now you all have the weirdest combination of interests and talents that I've ever fucking seen. If we're gonna survive this night and kill whatever is on Spooky Island, then we gotta get our shit together! Make a plan, some weapons, a trap, SOMETHING!!!! I may have an ongoing existential crisis and two useless degrees and a shit job and-"

"Cool, we get it, your life sucks, so what?"

"-but I'm not gonna die just because some stupid fucking monster decided that tonight it's gonna kill everyone it sees. If I'm gonna die, I'm taking it down with me. Now who's with me?"

There was a near unanimous raising of hands from every member of the small crowd, including Jasper, who was just a hand sticking out of David's bandana, and David, who looked extremely proud. 

"Gwen~"

"Say anything about me being an inspiration to the children or a good role model or whatever and I will personally feed you to the monster," Gwen growled. David shut up, but he continued smiling like a doofus. 

Gwen turned to the one member of the "team" that hadn't silently agreed to join.

"Quartermaster?"

All eyes turned to QM, who was staring at the ground, deep in thought. Finally, he shrugged, took another swig from his flask, and answered, "Sure. Why not. Goddamn thing prolly stole my hand anyway. Damn monster been interrupting my pleasure nights (the kids gagged) for years. Bout time we took it down."

Space Kid asked, to no one in particular, "Do you really think we can kill it?"

There was a silence and everyone stared at each other. No one was entirely sure. After all, only five people (six including QM, I guess) had even SEEN the monster, and one of them was DEAD. No one even knew any of its weaknesses if it even had any. And if they ran, if they left the camp, who knew what the monster would do if it got loose. 

Finally, after a solid minute of worried silence, David spoke up, his voice not so much cheery as it was filled with determination. "Well, if it bleeds, we can kill it, right?

The others, including Max, looked at him and smiled (though some smiles were less noticeable than others). If they were going to fight to their possible dooms, it felt a little nice to have someone believe in them, even if some didn't want to admit it. 

Suddenly, a loud roar boomed over the lake and into the camp, rattling the ears of its attendants. 

"We better get started," Jasper announced from the bandana, "and fast, because I think the monster just escaped the trap."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (The kids at the camp found Campbell's secret stash of pixie stix *coughcough _cocaine_ cough* and that's why they were fighting)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it! In terms of that Griffin McElroy reference, I wrote that line the day the first part of the adventure zone finale was posted and I was a little excited (if you don't listen to TAZ please do it's about dnd but you don't have to know jack shot about dnd to enjoy it; I sure as hell didn't). Also, aren't you all glad that I didn't wait a year to update like last time ;p Special shoutout to user polyus for the chapter title name and giving me little tidbits of inspiration! And that's all for this update!! I'll try to update by the end of next month at the latest! See y'all next time!!!!
> 
> -CC


	7. 7. Creative Problem Solving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the campers, their counselors, and the creepy-ass Quartermaster need to think outside the tent in order to stop the beast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN IN MY DRAFTS SINCE AUGUST 1, 2017. IM SO DONE WITH THIS CHAPTER. I NEVER WANT TO SEE IT AGAIN. IM SORRY IF IT SUCKS BUT I AM DONE.

"Alright, team," Max started, marching along the table and looking down at his mini militia. "How in the hell are we gonna kill this thing?"

They had all gathered in the mess hall to plan, hoping that the enclosed space might keep their scents out of the beast's noses. David had set up an old blackboard in front of them, prepared to write down anything that came to mind. He wasn't too excited about all this talk of "killing", but he understood that the beast was dangerous, and, if nothing else, this would be a good team-building excessive for the campers. 

"We could try putting on costumes and scaring it over to the Woodscouts!" Space Kid piped up. Preston agreed, "OOH YES!! I LOVE costumes!!"

Max shook his head and scowled. "That might work, if we could think of something scarier that this thing, but we don't know how smart this thing is, and we can't just risk our lives on a 'maybe'. Besides, the Woodscouts would probably tame it and use it for their own purposes or some weird shit like that. Anyone else?"

There was a long silence, with everyone looking at each other expectantly. Another roar from over the lake reminded them that their time was limited and they needed a plan, good or not, **fast.**

"We could loot Campbell's weapon storage," Quartermaster grumbled, taking a swig from his flask.

Max stared at him dumbfoundedly. He screeched, "This WHOLE time you knew about a BUNCH OF WEAPONS ACCESSABLE TO US and you didn't say SHIT about it?!?!?!"

QM shrugged. 

Facepalming, Max groaned, "Fine, whatever, let's just go with that. Take us to wherever the fucking weapons are."

\-----------------------------------------------

With Cameron Campbell's reputation it was no surprise to the campers that he had a secret weapons storage unit under the mess hall. They just hadn't expected it to be so........ _excessive_.

There were guns; pistols, shotguns, handguns, rifles, and more. There was an entire wall devoted to different kinds of blades; swords and knives and throwing stars and the like. And there were all sorts of explosives, many that no one knew the names to and were probably hella dangerous. There was even a small area filled with semi-decent first aid and survival gear, at least better than the stuff issued out at camp. Yes, this place was a doomsday prepper's dream bunker.

Max ran over to one of the walls and grabbed a small pistol. "Alright, team!" He shouted with a malicious smile. "Take your pick!"

The campers took off in different directions, trying to figure out what weapon would suit them best. As the kids left his side, David attempted to round them up, stammering, "H-hey, w-wait a second! You kids are a little too young to be playing with these things! I'm sure there-"

"David," Gwen interrupted, stopping David with a hand to his shoulder. He paused. 

With an exasperated sigh, Gwen said uncharacteristically seriously, "Look I don't want them to have weapons either. God knows what'll happen once these little monsters are armed. But with a big bloodthirsty.... _thing_ on the loose, it's not like you or me or even QM can do much to protect them. The best we can do is gear up ourselves. And also, y'know, keep these little shits from killing each other. 

David gave a small smile. "Wow, Gwen, that was so-"

"Also I really don't want to be the only one up against a monster that has a good chance of killing us even with our numbers so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯."

"How did you make that sound with your mouth?!?!" David was frightened now. 

\-----------------------------------------------

A few minutes later, they were all set. Max kicked open the door to the mess hall, leading the pack with his pistol drawn. Nikki and Neil were at his shoulders, each armed with the platypus (she was the only one the creatire wouldn't try to bite) and a pair of repulsion cannon gauntlets, kinda like Iron Man's, respectively. 

Behind them came the rest of the campers. Nerris wielded a majestic two-handed sword, and Harrison was armed with a sort of metallic bo staff. They both seemed to be charming their weapons with magic spells. Nurf cracked his knuckles before slipping on his spikes brass knuckles and making some menacing fists. Ered held her flamethrower over her shoulder and flipped her hair, looking badass as ever. Dolph skipped close by, gripping his Winchester Model 70 close to his chest. Preston held his rapier as valiantly as a brave knight, and Space Kid gave a few threatening swings of his golf club (though not very threatening, because you know, it's Space Kid).

And taking up the rear were the adults. David held a simple wooden bo staff over his shoulder, and Gwen had a katana tucked into its sheath over her back. As for Quartermaster, he had a few interesting hook attachment hidden up his sleeve. 

They gathered around the flagpole and made plans of which areas to cover. 

Then all that was left to do wait wait. 

—————————————————————————

Twenty minutes later, from his position atop the mess hall, Max stared at the lake with some binoculars he stole from QM. David sat next to him, his staff at the ready should anything dangerous appear. Jasper was nowhere to be found, probably sleeping in the bandana as the other two kept watch.

Just then there was a loud rustle that resonated across the lake from Spooky Island. Max zoomed in on the island while David (and Jasper, awakened from his nap) attempted to look over his shoulder into the binoculars, unsuccessfully because binoculars don't work the same way as phones and you can't just look through them over someone's shoulder. 

Max saw that the monster had made its way out of the tree line and onto the beach, looking pissed. It let out a menacing roar before walking into the lake and making its way across, towards the lake. He lost sight of it but the huge waves coming from a single point that moved across the lake assured him of its position. 

Max's expression remained neutral. "Tch. Of course it can fucking swim."

"Language, Max."

"Not really the best time, David," Jasper muttered.

Max pulled an walkie-talkie out of his hood is pocket and whispered, “The target is approaching. Is everyone in position?”

“Ready!” Nikki squealed excitedly into her walkie, grabbing the platypus by its tail and swinging him around excitedly, nearly hitting her fellow group members as well as a nearby tree. Neil stepped back out of fear and concern while Ered merely smirked. “Cool.”

“Ready,” Came the reply of Space Kid, staring out the mess hall window with Nerris, Harrison, and Dolph.

Gwen sighed into hers. “You know, we’re really not ready,” she started looking at Nurf picking Preston up by his collar and threatening to punch him, “but I guess we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

“Good,” Max stated, no longer needing his binoculars as he watched the beast climb up onto the beast, water dripping off its thick, mangled fur like a waterfall. “Because it’s here.”

The beast sniffed its noses in the air, searching for its latest meal. It slowly plowed its way through the camp, pausing to sniff the air every few seconds. Then it stopped by the flag pole, in front of the mess hall, stood on its hind legs, and looked around.

Every person on camp property stared at the monster from their positions, waiting with baited breath for something, _anything_ , happen. 

And then something did. Granted it was very stupid and not well thought out, but it was something. 

“EAT LEAD, BITCH!” Max sprung to his tiny feet on the roof and, before David or Jasper could do or say anything, fired three shots towards the beast’s head. 

The first one missed, but the second and third lodged themselves into an eye and a nose. This quite obviously pissed the creature off very much, and it roared in a blind rage.

The rest of the campers took the hint, and stormed out of their hiding places to hit the beast all at once. 

The battle for Camp Campbell had begun. 

Nikki smacked the platypus onto the beast, its teeth digging into its darky murky flesh. The beast growled in agitation as it shook the platypus- and Nikki- into a nearby tree. 

Neil and Harrison aimed their weapons at the beast and fired with a screech of war. Neil’s gauntlets shot beams of blinding white light into the beast’s legs, and Harrison’s staff seemed to send electricity into the very soul of the beast. 

Space Kid ran around the monster’s legs, occasionally whipping it with his golf club. As he sent an almost painful looking blow to its underside, he failed to notice of the legs preparing to strike him from behind with its long claws. 

_CLASH!_

Space Kid spun around to see Gwen, wielding her katana, blocking the claws and protecting him. But her stength wouldn’t be able to hold it off forever. 

Filled with an unkillable fury, Space Kid began thwacking the attacking leg with his golf club in hopes of lessening her load. 

“Keep! Your! Hands! Away! From! GWEEEEEEEN!!!!!!”

A slightly uncomfortable whack managed to remove the leg from the katana. Gwen smiled greatfully at Space Kid.

Ered had managed to slide her way underneath the beast. She lay on her back, facing the belly of the beast. She aimed her flamethrower and muttered, “Feel the burn, bitch,” as she sent a huge plume of flames into the monster on top of her. Nerris and Dolph ran around screaming, occasionally swiping her sword against the beast’s side or shooting a few bullets into its back. Nurf just kept punching the same leg over and over again. The Quartermaster sat to the side and drank from his flask, mumbling about how he’d seen worse.

And David and Max took over the roles of defense. Whenever the monster got a little too close to an attacking camper, either Max would shoot the beast or David would swoop in to nudge the camper out of danger.

Despite all this, the monster didn’t seem to be slowing down its attack. Nothing they did seemed to penetrate its thick skin. The group was getting tired and injured. Their clothes were torn and slightly bloody. They wouldn’t be able to take this much longer. 

Suddenly Preston appeared on the monster’s back, gripping the monster’s fur in one hand and his rapier in the other. “TAKE THIS, FOUL BEAST!” He screeched as he too his small sword in both hands and stabbed it in the back. 

The blade went in, causing the beast to howl in pain. Preston slid down its back, taking the rapier with him and deepening the cut. The monster stumbled to the ground in an injured heap as Preston’s feet met the ground and he scampered off. Its eyes fluttered shut weakly and its breathing became labored. 

The campers gathered away from the beast and over to near where Preston was. He was breathing heavily, staring at the black blood covering his rapier in shock. 

“Nice job, Preston!” Nikki shouted as she glomped him proudly. The other kids began congratulating him. 

“Yeah, good job!”

“Great work, Prest-o!”

“Not too shabby, dude.”

“That was awesome!!”

“Okay, okay,” Max interrupted, “While we can all agree that Preston was awesome or whatever, we need to end that thing before it gets away.”

“Max is right,” Gwen confirmed, walking over to the kids, her katana in its sheath across her back. David had walked over to the beast and was inspecting its injured form. “If we don’t kill this thing now, it’s just gonna run away, and I do NOT want to have to kill this thing again.”

Neil glanced over at the beast and by association David. His eyes widened in shock. 

“Uh, guys?” He whimpered. “I don’t think we’re as close to winning as we think....”

The beast, covered in its own inky black blood, had a dark mist floating up from its wound. It almost looked like the blood was evaporating. Then, slowly but surely, the wound began to _close itself up_ , growing smaller as more mist floated upward. David was too busy investigating the monster’s unmoving face to notice. 

“David, get away from it now!”

But Gwen’s warning arrived too late.

The beast’s eyes shot open and, before David could even react, it whipped its tail around and smacked David across the camp, slamming him into a tree. 

“DAVID!”

The campers and Gwen started to run over to where David was, but the beast leaped in their way, eyeing them hungrily. 

They all shared a look of terror and simultaneously, the same thought hit them like a ton of bricks. It wasn’t a particularly jarring thought, but regardless, the redundant thought was thunk. 

_Well, **this** is kind of a shitshow._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, left you all off on a cliffhanger there ;). (Don’t worry, David’s not dead.) (Yet. ;)) But seriously, sorry for the long hiatus. I really am going to try to update this more often, and my goal is to finish it before season 3 comes out this summer. I really do appreciate you all sticking this out for me. HUGE HUGE HUGE shoutout to poemjunkie on tumblr for helpIng me figure out everyone’s weapons (this happened like months ago but they still deserve credit.) And again, SO sorry if this chapter kind of sucks. It’s been a while since I’ve written it. I promise the next chapter WILL be better! That’s all for this chapter! See y’all next time!!! 
> 
> -CC

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I know it wasn't great, it was mainly just setting up the background for the main plot. It'll get better, I promise. Also, im having trouble figuring out how I want to start the next chapter. I was thinking maybe having the main trio do.... _something_.I'm open to any ideas and comments you guys have, so please leave a comment. It really makes my day! Until next time!
> 
> -CC


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